


To Be A Byers

by AshWinterGray



Series: To Be A Family [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Emotions, F/M, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Hospitals, Implied/Referenced Torture, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Season 3, Theories, Whump, powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 21:56:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19798564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray
Summary: Steve has to deal with the aftermath of torture, but his first concern will always be that of others. So when his father kicks him out, Steve can only think about helping the Byers prepare to move. But his presence among the Byers family shifts something, and now they might just need to save him.Continuation and partial re-write of Season 3.





	To Be A Byers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jamie26knight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamie26knight/gifts).



> I have done nothing productive today....and I regret it

Steve couldn’t bring himself to relax just yet, not with Dustin and Erica still not back. Not with El sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. Mike, Max, Joyce, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan all needed to go to the hospital. So did Steve and El, but they had only brought so many ambulances. Billy’s body had already been carefully placed in the back of a truck, and Steve had heard that there was no body to bury for Hopper. Doctor Owens had also been worried about leaving El alone, and about taking her to a hospital. So, despite the fact that he needed a hospital, Steve had stayed, waiting on Dustin and Erica with Lucas and Will.

“Steve! Steve! What happened! Steve!”

Steve released a sigh of relief as Dustin shouted at him, racing over with Erica close on his heels. Right now, they were safe. At least, most of them.

“We, uh, we lost Hopper and Billy,” Lucas managed to choke out. “There was nothing we could do.”

“No,” Dustin breathed, turning to El. “No, no, no, no, no, no… That-he can’t-please tell me this is a joke.”

Steve could only shake his head as El sobbed harder.

“Michael!” a familiar voice screamed out. “Nancy! Michael!”

The parents, Steve realized as he spotted Karen and Ted racing with Holly in Ted’s arms. Karen was searching frantically, and even Ted looked more worried than Steve had ever seen him in his life. The school situation in 1983 had been terrifying. But this, this was worse.

Karen eventually spotted him, racing towards him, her expression wild and terrified as she grew pale.

“Steve? Where is-?”

“Mike has a broken nose,” he managed to say. “Nancy has a likely concussion and a few bruises. They were taken to the hospital a few minutes ago, but both were relatively okay. Just a little freaked out.”

Karen sagged in relief, her expression falling on the girl in Steve’s arms and the four kids huddled close to Steve. She also took in Steve’s face, noticed how exhausted and in pain he looked. 

“Steve?” Karen whispered, gently ghosting a hand over his now black eye. “What happened?”

Steve locked eyes with Doctor Owens. They hadn’t had the time to come up with a cover story yet, and Owens looked a little panicked at this question. Grimmincaing, Steve began to make up a story.

“There was, something, under the mall,” Steve stated. “A base of some sort. Robin, she’s my co-worker, Dustin and I found it on accident. The kids came to say hi, dragged Nancy and Jonathan along, and they got caught up in it. We managed to get ahold of Chief Hopper, and he was on a date with Mrs. Byers. He, uh, he didn’t make it. Chief Hopper, I mean. He died protecting us. And, uh Billy-Billy Hargrove. He came for Max, was trying to find her to get her home, cause the mall thing made her late. And, uh, he-he died protecting us too. He’s gone. There are, uh, a bunch of other people died too, but I-I can’t-”

Karen was suddenly pulling them all close, glad they were all alive and well. For the most part, but it was clear she had no idea who El was.

“Harrington,” Doctor Owens walked up to them. “The rest of the ambulances arrived. You and Jane need to get to the hospital.”

Steve nodded. “Right, right. Okay, uh, Will, can you go with El. Don’t let her be alone, alright? Mrs. Wheeler, I’m sorry, but could you call parents. And uh, when you call the Hargrove house, make sure it’s Mrs. Hargrove. Mr. Hargrove, he uh, he isn’t a nice man.”

Something flashed on Karen’s face, but she nodded.

“I’ll meet you at the hospital once everyone knows,” she stated. “Ted! Let’s go!”

Someone took El, and it was finally hitting Steve that they were safe. That they could rest now, because for this moment, everything was over. That was it. That was enough for them. He didn’t have to be on guard, worrying about the kids anymore, because it was fine. They were safe.

Steve made it, maybe, five steps towards the ambulance before his entire body shut down and someone screamed.

\----------------------------------------

The beeping rings in his ears, and Steve feels his own breathing hitch for a minute as he moves just a little. His entire body felt like it was on fire and being stabbed all at the same time. There was something over his face, but it hurt too much to move it. And there was a bright light, making it impossible for Steve to open his eyes. He could feel his heart rate spike, not even needing to hear the monitors, as he felt the pain flare at even the smallest movements.

The loud bang was not helping his quickly growing headache.

“He’s awake! Doctor, he’s awake!”

“Who was in charge of his pain meds?!”

“His heart is going too fast! We’ll lose him!”

“Get the pain meds, _NOW_!”

“Breathe, sweetie. Come on. Breathe.”

“Strap him down! He’s hurting himself!”

“Where the heck are those pain meds!”

“We’re losing him! We’re losing him!”

Steve’s entire world went dark again, and he felt, for just a moment, like it would all be over. There was no bright light. There was no flash of memories. Just total darkness that felt like the embrace of a parent. Or what he believed was the feeling of a parent embracing their child. He’d never really experienced it before.

\--------------------------

When Steve woke up again, for real, it was to El fast asleep on his chest. Her hand was fisted into the fabric of his hospital gown, the other latched onto his own hand. She looked completely uncomfortable, and that made Steve feel bad.

But there was still a mask on his face, and he was strapped down to the hospital bed, and his body wasn’t burning anymore, but it still hurt to just shift. So he groans, and El stirs at the sound, clutching tighter at his hospital gown. Just over his-

Oh.

She’s got a scar over her eyes as she meets his gaze, and he can sort of see her leg is wrapped up, nice and snug. And it takes Steve a moment to realize he is also wrapped up, pretty much everywhere, a patch over his left eye.

“Steve?” she asked, softly, hesitant. “Steve?”

He groans again and blinks, not sure if he really can talk. But El leans over him and grabs a button. He assumes she is trying to call a nurse or something. Once she is satisfied that she had hit the button enough times, she leaned back over to him and carefully pulled of the mask, something Steve realized had been providing him with oxygen.

“Steve,” she smiled at him.

“Hi,” he croaked out. “El.”

A nurse came in a few seconds later, nearly kicked El out, but Steve kept begging her to stay. He didn’t want to be alone. Slowly, the nurse released the binds that kept him trapped, and he let out a breath of relief as he threw his arms around El. It felt good to have one of his kids nearby, safe where he could see them. Even if El had lost her father.

“I need to check your wounds, Mr. Harrington,” the nurse insisted.

The drugs were out of his system, he had a few broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a near concussion, serious bruising, some internal bleeding. All in all, not as bad as Steve thought it would be. He was fine. Sort of.

“You flatlined,” Robin told him later, when he was allowed more visitors. You’d only just entered surgery, and they were doing tests and you woke up during the surgery. They weren’t sure you were going to make it off the operating table.”

Okay, so…not fine. But he was fine.

“I’m fine, Robin,” Steve gave her a smile he hoped was reassuring. “Really. I’m not going anywhere.”

Robin gave only a half-hearted nod, and it was clear she had something else to say. But instead, she bit her lip. Instead, she shook her head and sighed, calling Steve names to lift her own spirits as Steve tried to give witty come-backs.

At first, Steve thought that the looks he was getting from everyone was because he had flatlined. But as the looks continued to occur, Steve came to the conclusion that he wasn’t being told something. Like, he was aware that he had been asleep for about three weeks after he flatlined. He was aware that Neil wasn’t going to have a funeral for his own son and the town was angry with him because Billy was a hero. He was aware he had missed Hopper’s funeral and that the entire town was in an uproar over the death.

But he wasn’t sure what he wasn’t being told.

“How you feeling, sweetie?” Joyce asked.

“I think I should be asking you that,” Steve smiled sadly. “How are you?

Joyce hadn’t visited Steve yet. He’d seen Jonathan at least twice, but that had been when Jonathan was still in the hospital with Steve. The oldest Byers boy had been stuck on bed rest since being sent home. Will had visited pretty often. Mostly with his friends and El in particular. But not yet. This was the first time Joyce had come to the hospital.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” she said as she brushed hair from his face.

“Someone has too,” Steve quickly grasped her hand. “I don’t think it’s good to keep all that in, Mrs. Byers. You don’t smile like you used too, not after Mr. Newby. And with Hopper, I can see it hurts.”

There were tears in Joyce’s eyes now as she studied Steve.

“I’m here, Mrs. Byers,” Steve decided to say. “I’m here, and you can talk to me. Please. Don’t shut down.”

A sob tore from Joyce’s throat, and it was clear that she had been holding things in for a long time. Clear that Steve’s insistence had been the final break in her barrier.

“He was going to take me on a date,” Joyce whispered back. “He was going to give me a reason to stay here. To not move away.”

That was shocking and horrifying. Just the general idea of the Byers moving away. But Steve didn’t say that. Instead, he squeezed her hand. A silent offer to let her keep talking.

And she did. Steve listened, offering his hand for her to hold and his shoulder for her to cry on as she told him of her greatest fears and desires.

“I’m sorry,” Joyce shook her head. “You didn’t need to carry my burden right now. I’ll just-”

“Mrs. Byers,” Steve gripped her hand tighter. “It’s okay. Really. Everyone needs to share sometimes. And I think the whole ‘you’re a kid’ thing is out the window by now. I have ears. I can listen.”

“Steve, honey,” Joyce whispered. “You have enough going on right now.”

“Really?” Steve scoffed. “As far as I can tell, the only thing I really have going on is entertaining kids when they visit and trying to figure out if my dad has kicked me out yet or not.”

Joyce was suddenly giving Steve a pained look and it all clicked for Steve.

“Ah,” he hummed. “Nice. Well, that’s great. I guess I might be able to crash at Dustin’s for a bit. Mrs. Henderson likes me. My Aunt’s pretty nice, she might let me move in, but she lives in Florida. I’ll be fine. It’s fine.”

He seemed to be saying that a lot lately.

“Steve, sweetie,” Joyce’s hand was back to pushing his hair from his face. “We’ll gladly let you stay with us.”

And Steve, well, Steve wasn’t sure what to say to that.

\---------------------------

Steve signs out of the hospital and gets his last check from Scoops Ahoy all in the same day. This, he discovers, is mixed with the compensation money from the government. Robin also gets an insanely high amount of money that neither of them talk about when she takes him from the hospital to deposit their checks.

“You’re face looks better,” Robin tells him.

“I feel like I got hit by a bus,” Steve hissed back.

“You’ll be fine,” Robin nudged him. “Don’t worry. You haven’t died yet.”

That wasn’t very reassuring, but Steve let Robin drive him to the Byers after their bank stop. It was nice, being able to relax like this. The windows down, the wind hitting his face and removing the smell of the hospital.

“You still with me?” Robin asked, giving him another nudge.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m still here.”

El was throwing open the car door the moment Robin stopped the car. She had the biggest smile on her face, and Steve couldn’t help but smile as he realized how long her hair had gotten in the month he had been gone. He had, after all, given her his hair products so she could grow it out more, keep it healthy. It was just passed her shoulders now.

“Hey, kid,” he smiled at her. “How are you?”

“Steve,” she beamed, not answering his question as she fell into him. “Welcome home.”

Falling into Joyce’s embrace as he climbed out of the car, it did sort of feel like home. He let Joyce hover near as El and Robin helped him inside and to the couch. He’d been here maybe twice, had nearly died both times, but this place felt more like home than anywhere else ever had.

\--------------------------

Steve knew the conversation was coming, he just hadn’t been expecting to be dragged into the conversation. But here he was, a week into living with the Byers, and sitting at the table as Joyce broke the news of the move.

“What?!” Jonathan jolted upward. “Mom, no! You can’t do that!”

“What about our friends?” Will begged.

“Do we have to go?” El whispered, eyes wide and filling with tears.

Steve kept silent as Joyce tried to calm her family. He was here, probably, as moral support. But that was fine. He was still looking for a new place to stay, not that the Byers new that, and with Robin and him trying to find another job, he hoped it would be easier. Plus, that big check would help for a bit too.

“And what about Steve?” Jonathan motioned to where Steve was zoned out. “Are we just going to leave him to fend for himself like his parents?”

That, that wasn’t fair. Steve felt the sting of that question and it wasn’t even directed at him.

“Jonathan, I’ll be-”

“We can’t just leave!” Will protested, cutting Steve off. “What if the Mind-Flayer comes back. That would leave Steve, Nancy, Robin, Lucas, Mike, Dustin, and Erica to fend for themselves. And Steve’s not just going to get better either. He’s still hurt. He could still die.”

“Will, really I’ll be-”

“The bad men could come back,” El began to argue too. “They could get hurt again. I need to stay and help!”

“ENOUGH!”

The whole table jolted as everyone whipped their heads to stare at Steve. Steve winced as the table jerked into his chest, and he took a deep breath to try and get air back into his lungs. El and Will were by his side in an instant, apologizing as they gripped him tight.

“I’m fine,” Steve stated, raising his arms to shrug the two kids off. “Sit down. I’m fine. And you will all be fine. You need this.”

“Steve,” Jonathan tried.

“No, listen, Jonathan,” Steve protested, slamming his hand down on the table and wincing as it brought him pain. “Look, I realize that a lot has happened, and you all have friends here and stuff. But bad things have happened too. Maybe, your mom is right. Maybe it is time to move on.”

Steve shakily pushed himself up, everyone shifting slightly towards him to help.

“You guys talk,” Steve put his hand up to stop them. “I’m just going to sit outside. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”

But, really, deep down, Steve wasn’t so sure he’d be fine. The only time Steve ever found peace was when he was outside, “tasting the air” as Robin had called it. It was one of the few times he could assure himself that he wasn’t being held captive by evil Russians. It was the one time he could assure himself that he was, in fact, fine. Or as fine as he could be.

Sometimes, Steve could still hear them talking. Could hear their questions as they demanded answers. Could feel the impact of a hit when he would fail to deliver an answer that satisfied them.

“Steve? Steve, sweetie? Are you alright?”

He jolted a bit, releasing a hiss as a hand touched his head, but then he recognized the voice. Recognized Joyce Byers’ gentle embrace.

“Fine,” he gave her a smile that even he knew was a grimace. “I’m fine. Really.”

The next thing Steve knew, he was being tugged into warm embrace of Joyce Byers, and he couldn’t keep the tears in anymore. He hardly remembered what he said, but he bared his soul to her that day. Just as she had in the hospital a few weeks prior.

\--------------------------

He didn’t remember how he got there, but when Steve woke up, he was tucked into Joyce, Jonathan at his back. El was asleep across the three of them, and Will was at their heads. It was nice. Family like.

“Steve?” Will whispered, and Steve nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t even realized Will was awake. “Are you hungry?”

And, yeah, Steve was positively starving. Had he even eaten last night?

He gave Will a small nod and watched as the younger boy jumped up and raced to the kitchen, stirring El awake in the process.

“Morning,” she hummed, climbing off the three older people. “I’m going to help Will.”

Steve gave a nod as he watched El disappear from the room. Jonathan was groaning, burying his head further into Steve’s shoulder until Steve let out a strangled gasp.

“Sorry,” he muttered quickly.

“Nah,” Steve shook his head, nudging Jonathan a bit. “I’m good. Just a little sore is all. Gonna be that way for a while.”

Jonathan furrowed his gaze at Steve. “Steve, we talked about this.”

They had? And, oh. They _had_ talked about this. Last night when Steve had bared his soul to Joyce and he found the other three had been nearby, listening the entire time. They’d talked late into the night until they had fallen asleep one by one. Discussing how Steve had to open up more to them.

“I honestly feel like I have been repeatedly hit by a bus,” Steve confessed, watched as Jonathan’s expression became worried. “Every movement I make hurts, and I want to never move again. But the doctor said I had to move around, that it would be the only way I can heal.”

Jonathan nodded, because there wasn’t much he could say. But he gave Steve’s shoulder, his good shoulder, a gentle squeeze that let Steve know he was there. And that was really all that Steve needed.

\-----------------------

“We’ll have to up you’re pain meds,” the doctor began to scribble something down. “You should have come back sooner, Mr. Harrington. This could have been serious.”

Joyce had taken Steve for the check-up he was required to go to at least once a month. He was glad the government was footing these bills because there was no way he was ever going to be able to afford them with his father no longer taking care of him. And there was no way he was going to ask the Byers with them moving.

“I’d like to take a few blood samples,” the doctor stated. “I’m worried that the drug they injected you with may have done something to your system.”

Steve just made to roll up his sleeve and offer his arm.

“Your friend, Robin, said you were kept alone for a long time,” the doctor stated as he took the blood samples. “That they brought you back unconscious.”

“Yeah,” Steve nodded. “They beat me pretty bad. Wouldn’t tell them what they wanted.”

The doctor pursed his lips.

“How many times did they inject you, Mr. Harrington?”

“Once,” Steve shrugged. “Why?”

The doctor frowned, muttering something about a stupid night staff or whatever. Joyce is suddenly moving beside the doctor as the doctor moves Steve’s neck to the side for a moment. It had Steve’s skin crawling.

“I’m afraid you may have been injected twice, Mr. Harrington,” the doctor stated.

Steve felt his entire body suddenly run cold.

“Like, he has a double dose of LSD in him?” Joyce asked.

The doctor didn’t answer, but Steve had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer either.

\-----------------------

While Owens ran tests, Steve had taken it upon himself to help El with her powers. The kids thought this was a great idea (though only Joyce and Steve knew that there was a second drug inside of Steve) and they were constantly over at the Byers house. Which is why they were currently laying on the ground, surrounded by a bunch of paper and kids.

“Anger,” Steve repeated for the millionth time. “Anger, anger, anger, anger, anger, anger, anger, ang-”

El was not angry anymore. She was sad and scared. Fight or flight…

“El, you’re sad, right?”

“Yes,” El nodded. “Hopper is gone. Billy is gone. It-it hurts. Almost lost my friends and I couldn’t protect them.”

“Sad and scared,” Steve nodded, slowly sitting up. “But not angry. Not eager to please Brenner. Sad and scared.”

“Where are you going with this?” Dustin asked, sounding both bored and curious.

“What if,” Steve bit his lip, knowing the idea was probably stupid. “What if Kali was right? What if El’s powers work on emotions. So when she’s angry or determined, her powers work. But when she’s scared or sad, they stop working. Like-like fight or flight instincts.”

It was stupid, and Steve knows that. But the explanation tumbled out a little too quickly.

“Steve,” Mike had suddenly jerked up. “Steve, you’re a genius!”

What?

“Come on!” Mike was grinning as he pulled everyone up. “Come on! We need to go to the junk yard! We’ve got to get El’s powers back.”

Steve, despite strict instructions that he shouldn’t be driving anywhere, drives the kids to the junk yard. He knows he shouldn’t. Knows it is a bad idea. But he does it anyways. And here they are, watching as Mike and Max tries to probe El to be angry. But that doesn’t seem right. It just-something about the anger thing.

“Wheeler!” Steve called to Mike. “Make her happy. Show her happiness.”

Mike blinked, El blinked, and Max was shoving the two of them together, making them kiss. Will was suddenly snagging Steve’s keys and running to the car, slipping on the radio so music was playing.

El was smiling more than they had ever seen her. First, there was a type of pulse, a low thrum that shot through the air and spread through Hawkins. If anyone were to discuss that moment, they would all have said that an odd sense of happiness had washed over them. But it was never discussed. Then, the bus flipped over as the second thing that happened, and the kids cheered excitedly.

The third thing that happened didn’t happen to El. It happened to Steve.

His body hit the ground with a thud.

\-------------------------------

Steve, once more, woke up in the hospital, hooked up to several machines.

“You’re a lucky one,” Doctor Owens suddenly came into his line of sight as his vision stabled. “Whatever those chemicals were, they might have killed you had it not been for Jane.”

But Steve knew. He had to ask. He knew he had heard it and he needed to know.

“Hop-per?”

Owens looked pained. “Steve, the Chief died, remember? He didn’t make it.”

Steve shook his head. “I heard him. The Russians. They had him, in a cell. They, they didn’t want him or something. And-and there was a scream. Like-like a Demodog. I-I don’t know where they were. I couldn’t-couldn’t _see_ anything. But it-it was Hopper. And it was _bad._

_Let me out! You stupid Russians! Let me out! I have a daughter! I promised my girlfriend a date! Let me out! You don’t know what you’re dealing with! Please! I need to get back to Jane! I need to get back to Joyce!_

He could still hear Hopper’s cries for his daughter. For Joyce.

“Steve,” Doctor Owens said slowly. “I think we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

Yeah, Steve didn’t doubt that either. They agreed not to tell anyone about what he heard. Agreed to just keep quite and explain everything off as Steve needed to get the chemicals out of his body. It was too late to actually do that though. The chemicals, which Owens finally determined was similar to what Brenner had given his experiments, were already fused to Steve’s body.

“When are you getting out?” Will groaned, flopping on Steve’s legs beside El.

“When I stop passing out,” Steve quipped. Or, at least until he had control of his weird power-thingy. “Honestly, I am going to be here for a while.”

“But you need to see the house,” El groaned too.

And that was a shock when Joyce had told him. The Byers had moved, but they had only moved to a bigger house. It turned out that Robin had helped decorate his room, which sacred him a bit. But Dustin and the kids also helped, and that was just horrifying.

“I’ll see it soon,” he teased. “Don’t worry.”

Then there was a soft knock on the door.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Doctor Owens stated. “But we do need to run a few more tests.”

Carefully wheeled down the hallway, Steve let himself be placed into the coffin-tank, as he and Owens had decided to call it. Steve’s powers weren’t like Eleven’s. Rather than see people, he could sense them. Normally, it was just people close by, but his powers were growing. And he was desperate to find Hopper.

To bring him home.

“Ready?” Owens asked, because he refused to be like Doctor Brenner.

“Ready,” Steve agreed, and then he shut his eyes as the lid closed.

And he focused.

\--------------------

It was a month later, and Steve had been in his new home with the Byers for a good few weeks. He still remembers banging on the lid, sitting up and meeting Owens eyes as he told the man where to find Hopper. That they didn’t have much time. Steve and Owens both knew this, especially after Steve had felt the full-grown Demogorgon nearby.

“Are you sure you’re okay sweetie,” Joyce asked, brushing hair from his face again.

“Yeah, just can’t believe it’s over,” Steve offered a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “The pain is gone, which I’m glad for. But, it just doesn’t feel like it’s over.”

_Because it isn’t over, and I can’t tell you guys that yet._

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Joyce whispered, pulling him into a hug. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“Steve!” Will raced into the room. “Doctor Owens is on the phone for you.”

Steve thought his heart might stop as he carefully picked up the phone. It nearly did stop when Owens told him the news.

“Steve,” Jonathan asked carefully.

Steve turned to Joyce, Jonathan, Will, and El, tears falling down his face as he took in a shaky breath.

“You guys need to sit down,” Steve croaked out as he tried to hold back a sob. “There is no easy way to tell you this.”

Will took that to mean he needed to sit on the ground and did so instantly, sitting in front of Steve. The others followed suit, and Steve found himself sliding down the wall, still gripping the phone to his ear.

He took a deep breath. “Hopper’s alive.”

\--------------------------

“What if-”

“MOM!” the sound of Jonathan, Will, and El cut off Joyce’s billionth what if as they waited for Owens to return with Hopper. “STOP!”

Joyce shut her mouth, but she began to fidget, waiting in pure anxiety for Hopper to come. Steve just sort of chuckled, watched Jonathan pace. Watched El shift in her seat. Watched Will keep adding images to the card he made. Watched Joyce eye the door.

Then he felt it.

“He’s here,” Steve stated, still unused to the gift he had now. “Hopper’s here.”

Sure enough, the door flew open and Hopper was wheeled in, looking thin and exhausted. But his eyes lit up as Jane lunged into him, and he let out a sound of surprise as Joyce kissed him senseless.

Before Steve knew it, they were in a giant bear hug, Steve included.

“We adopting you now, too,” Hopper grinned at Steve, ruffling his hair. “At this rate, we’ll be adopting every stray kid in Hawkins.”

Joyce did not seem opposed to this idea. Much to Hopper’s horror.

**Author's Note:**

> I like me some angst. And whump. And Hopper not dead.


End file.
